Special interests sharply step up political giving

TALLAHASSEE — They are some of the biggest brand names in Florida politics, and this summer they're pumping millions of dollars into a myriad of stealthy political funds — all with the aim of influencing the outcome of a few key legislative races.

Corporate giving to politicians is nothing new in Florida, where unlimited donations from companies and unions with interests to pursue in Tallahassee have long been legal.

But the return on investment this year could be huge: Legislation regulating gambling and Internet cafes; turning more traditional public schools into charters; and cracking down on union influence and trial-lawyer lawsuits could hang in the balance.

Though Republicans have a lock on the state House, the Senate — despite the GOP's 28-12 supermajority — has remained a difficult place to pass ideologically conservative and corporate-tilted legislation. Lawmakers on both sides say the dollars are flowing into a half-dozen state Senate races in the hope of influencing that balance.

One particularly heated Jacksonville-area Senate Republican primary between Aaron Bean and Mike Weinstein may cost $2 million per side this summer.

The state's teachers union and "school-choice" groups are squaring off in three different Senate Democratic primaries, including the Senate race between Democrats Victoria Siplin and Geraldine Thompson in Orlando. And Tampa has become a GOP political free-for-all, drawing in dollars from a who's who of corporate givers.

"The Senate has become a place now where every vote counts, because of the battles in the Republican caucus," said incoming Senate Minority Leader Chris Smith, a Fort Lauderdale Democrat who has served in leadership and raised corporate dollars in both chambers of the Legislature.

Corporate interests "used to give to business groups, business groups gave to Republicans, and they would get what they want," Smith said. "They're counting to 21 now."

The million-dollar club

Four Florida companies — Blue Cross/Blue Shield, U.S. Sugar Corp., Disney and Publix — have already blown past the million-dollar barrier in political giving this year. All have also surpassed — in one case by more than tenfold — their total contributions to state races in the 2008 elections, the last election cycle without statewide Cabinet offices on the ballot.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida — the health-insurance company pushing for a share of the state's $3 billion Medicaid marketplace — is by far the largest corporate giver, pouring $3.15 million so far into ads, mailers and political war chests. Of that, $1.6 million went to the Republican Party of Florida and $499,000 to the Florida Democratic Party.

The company has also given $375,000 to the next House speaker, Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, through a political fund he controls called Committee for a Conservative House. And it chipped in $200,000 for Gov. Rick Scott's 2014 re-election effort.

In 2008, the company gave less than a tenth as much — a bit more than $257,000 — to state candidates, parties and committees.

U.S. Sugar Corp., the Clewiston-based sugar and citrus giant, has dumped $1.8 million so far into state political coffers, much of it to the state GOP ($562,000) and Florida Chamber of Commerce ad-buying funds ($575,000). It also gave $100,000 to Scott's ad-buying committee, called Let's Get to Work. In 2008, its total giving was $1.15 million.

Disney, Publix

Walt Disney Co. has also stepped up its giving this year, coughing up $1.44 million so far, largely to help fill the coffers of future House and Senate GOP leaders — who are, in turn, are taking sides in heated GOP Senate primaries this summer in Tampa and Jacksonville.

That's more than twice the $702,000 the company put into state elections in 2008 — a figure that includes the free hotels and meeting space it provides to political parties for conventions.

A Disney spokesman said the company's higher investment was still "in the same range" as past elections, although "every cycle has its own dynamic."

The company brings an annual list of requests to the Capitol each year: Last spring, it successfully beat back attempts to expand gambling by legalizing destination casinos. Walt Disney World and Daytona Beach-basedInternationalSpeedway Corp. also lobbied legislators unsuccessfully to create multimillion-dollar tax breaks for "sports-tourism zones."

Lawmakers did give $1 million for incentives for professional-soccer teams that agree to train in Central Florida and $1.2 million to subsidize bus service between Disney World and Orlando International Airport.